Perspective

Roger Scruton is a professor of aesthetics but possesses a general knowledge of philosophy. As such, he is able to do an adequate job of making Kant as presentable as possible. As he himself points out, however, this is no small task, as Kant's ideas are themselves so complex that they defy any attempt of presenting them in simple terms. Scruton's philosophical expertise also enables him to place Kant in his proper historical and philosophical context. If one were to read Kant directly, one might miss the historical significance, for example, of Kant's attempt to synthesize the role of reason and experience in epistemology.

Scruton's interest in aesthetics is obvious in Chapter 6, which is dedicated to the same subject. As aesthetics is often passed over by many modern students, Scruton is probably trying to highlight its importance to readers who have perhaps too quickly dismissed it. He is...